Man rams crowd at London Houses of Parliament; terrorism suspected

By

Sommer Brokaw

Police officers respond to a terrorist attack outside the Houses of Parliament in central London on Tuesday. Authorities said three people were injured by a car that crashed into a security gate outside the building. Photo by Will Oliver/EPA-EFE

Aug. 14 (UPI) -- British authorities are investigating what they say appears to be a terrorist attack at London's parliament building Tuesday, where a driver rammed a gate and injured multiple people.

The driver of the silver Ford Fiesta collided with several cyclists and pedestrians outside the Palace of Westminster before crashing into the gate, Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

"At this early stage none of the injuries appear to be life-threatening," police added.

The scene was cordoned off as officers began the investigation and the Westminster Tube station was closed.

"It's inevitable it's going to be investigated as an attack in view of the location of the incident. And certainly the initial assessment of the incident doesn't seem like a normal traffic accident," former Met Police chief inspector Peter Kirkham told Sky News.

"The eyewitness statements all seem to point towards it being a deliberate attack."

"Our thoughts are with those who have been injured in the incident outside the Houses of Parliament this morning, and our thanks go out to the quick and effective response of our police and medical service," British lawmaker Vince Cable tweeted. "Thank goodness the barriers are in place and worked."

"My thoughts are with those hurt and injured outside Parliament this morning in what is being treated as a terrorist incident," Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted.

"Our thanks go to our emergency services who responded immediately. Their bravery keeps us safe day in, day out."

The crash comes about a year and a half after a terrorist drover his car into a number of people outside parliament and then attacked people with a knife, killing four.